The Baltimore Orioles won 93 games in 2012. Last season, they won 85. Those are impressive win totals that look even more impressive when one considers that in 2012 Orioles starting pitchers were ninth in the American League in ERA at 4.42. Last season, Baltimore's starters were ranked 12th in the AL in ERA after posting a 4.57 mark.

If you're of the opinion that starting pitching is the key ingredient to building a winning baseball team, then the Orioles have been cooking without much heat but still serving decent meals over the last two seasons.

Baltimore is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The team's best players are all on offense. Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, and Matt Wieters are all studs, though Davis and Wieters are approaching free agency.

Baltimore is not one of baseball's lowest payroll teams, but they are not in the same class as big spenders such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Philles.

That means the team has to be mindful of the need to save money in order to retain their own future free agents. Saving to re-sign those players makes sense, but that means the Orioles are on the outside looking-in on a lot of current free agents.

None of that changes the reality that, if the Orioles were able to improve their starting pitching, it would be key in helping them become legitimate contenders.

There's only a slim window of time to make that happen.

The Orioles offense won't always be good. Current offensive stars like Nick Markakis and Jones only have so many good years left. Wieters has already indicated that his days as an Oriole are numbered.

Add it all up, and the Orioles need to take some chances if they're really serious about competing in the near future.

Given the current inflated market for free agent starting pitchers, the deal isn't that outrageous. Money wasn't the only thing the Orioles had to part with, they also had to part with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2014 MLB amateur draft.

The combination of the money and the draft pick adds up to a fairly steep price for a starting pitcher who has spent three years in the American League, and has produced one half-season of quality starting pitching.

When Jimenez broke into the majors as a 22-year-old with the Colorado Rockies in late 2007, he had the look of a potential future ace. He even earned a start against the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series.

By 2010, that potential appeared to be a reality. Jimenez finished third in the NL Cy Young voting. He had a 19-8 record, a 2.81 ERA, and struck out 214 batters in 221 2/3 innings pitched.

Jimenez looked so good in 2010, that the Cleveland Indians were willing to overlook the rocky start he got off to in 2011.

On July 30, 2011 the Indians acquired Jimenez from the Rockies for a pair of pitching prospects. Jimenez was supposed to help the upstart Indians finish the 2011 season strong, and make the playoffs.

Unfortunately for the Indians, that's not what happened.

Jimenez struggled, going 4-4 with a 5.10 ERA. The Indians missed the playoffs, with Jimenez providing little help along the way.

The 2012 season was even worse. Jimenez was awful, and so were the Indians. He finished the year 9-17 with a 5.40 E.R.A.

For the first half of the 2013 season, Jimenez was the same thoroughly unimpressive pitcher he had been since he first arrived in Cleveland. At the All-Star break, Jimenez was 7-4 with a 4.56 E.R.A.

After the break, Jimenez was a different pitcher. He was dominant, and he played a major role in helping lead Cleveland to their first postseason appearance since 2007.

He went 6-5 with an ERA of 1.82, striking out 100 batters in only 84 innings pitched, and looked every bit as dominant as he was back in 2010.

Now he's a Oriole.

Since arriving in the American League, Jimenez has been a lot more bad than good, but his dominant second half in 2013 could be a sign that he's turned a corner.

Could a more experienced and mature Jimenez finally be settling into what could be a prolonged stretch of very good starting pitching? The Orioles certainly hope so.

If Jimenez can put together a full season similar to his dominant 2013 second half, then the Orioles might turn out to be a legitimate playoff contender.

The Orioles are rolling the dice on Jimenez. They know that they might have just spent almost $50 million on a mediocre starting pitcher, who also cost them a fairly high first round draft pick.

They also know that, if they hope to compete this coming season, they're going to need to get good seasons out of starting pitchers who lack consistent track records of success.

Of all the inconsistent starters that the Orioles will trot out this coming season, Jimenez has the best track record, and the most impressive previous accomplishments.

For two seasons, the Orioles have fielded strong teams that lacked good starting rotations. The results have been good, but not good enough.

Baltimore could have passed on Jimenez, and chosen to try and win in 2014 with their usual limited pool of starting pitching talent. It didn't work in 2013, and it only got them to the ALDS in 2012.

Signing Jimenez doesn't instantly make the Orioles a contender for the division title, or even the wild card. It does make it more likely that they contend for one of those coveted postseason spots.

If the Orioles are serious about winning then they've got to be willing to take some chances. Signing Jimenez is a risk worth taking,